Eternity: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

ETERNITY

"The things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

There are star depths in the heavens that the most powerful telescopes cannot pierce, yet it is well to look into them and learn something if we cannot learn everything. There are heights and depths about the subject of eternity that mortal man can never comprehend, but God has spoken of it and we have no right to turn away from it altogether. In examining points like these we have nothing to do with preconceived notions about God's character and what we think God ought to do with man after death. The thoughts we have a right to hold are the thoughts He has been pleased to reveal to us in His written Word, the holy Bible. If you are tempted to doubt that, consider this: Imagine a judge who calls in witnesses and pretends to examine them while simultaneously issuing a statement that no matter what they say or evidence they give, their cause is so absurd and unjust that no evidence will be sufficient to prove it. Do not be that kind of judge.

1. We live in a world where all things are temporal and passing away. Everything around us is decaying, dying, and coming to an end. In a practical sense, there is nothing undying about us except our souls. That is what this line by a dying poet in the hymn Abide with Me attempts to capture: "Change and decay in all around I see. O Thou who changest not, abide with me."

Beauty is only temporal. Sarah was once the fairest of women and the admiration of the court of Egypt, yet a day came when her husband, Abraham, said, "Let me bury my dead out of my sight" (Genesis 23:4). Strength of body is only temporal. David was once a mighty man of valor, the champion of Israel against Goliath, yet the day came when he had to be nursed like a child in his old age. As humbling and painful as these truths may sound, it is good for us to take them to heart. The houses we live in, the relations we enter into,  the professions we follow, the riches we accumulate, the plans we form are only for a time. "The form of this world is passing away" (1 Corinthians 7:31).

Think of pleasures, amusements, profits, and earthly callings as poor ephemeral things that cannot last. Love them not too well or grasp them too tightly: they are useful as servants but dreadful as idols. You cannot keep them and must lose them. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," said Jesus, and then everything else needful will be added as well (Matthew 6:33). "Set your mind on things above," not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2). The world and its lusts are passing away, "but he who does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:17).

If you take these things to heart, you may take heart because your trials and conflicts are only temporary. They will soon come to an end and even now are working for you "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).  Bear them patiently and quietly. Look upward, forward, and far beyond them. The cross shall soon be exchanged for a crown and you shall sit down at a feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11).

2. We are all going toward a world where everything is eternal. The Bible teaches that the great unseen state of existence lying behind the grave is forever. Whether it be happy or miserable, in one respect it is utterly unlike this world: it is eternal. There will be no change and decay, no end, no goodbyes, no mornings and evenings, no annihilation. "The things unseen are eternal." We cannot fully grasp this: the contrast between now and then, between this world and the next, is so enormously great that our feeble minds will not take it in. The consequences it entails are so tremendous, they almost take away our breath and we shrink from looking at them. But when the Bible speaks plainly, we have no right to turn away from a subject.

A. Future happiness. The future is eternally bright for those who, by definition, have been rescued by their saving faith in Christ's righteous life, death, and resurrection on their behalf. At God's "right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). Awaiting them is "an inheritance ... imperishable, undefiled, and unfading," including "an unfading crown of glory" (1 Peter 1:4; 5:4). Their fight is over; their work is done. No more will they hunger and thirst. They are traveling towards an "eternal weight of glory," towards a home that shall never be broken up, a meeting without parting, a family gathering without separation, a day without night. Faith shall be swallowed up by sight and hope by certainty. They "shall always be with the Lord." No wonder Paul adds, "Comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).

B. Future misery. For those who have no faith in Christ, the future is eternally bleak. That is a solemn truth and flesh and blood naturally shrink from the contemplation of it, but it is plainly and mercifully revealed in Scripture. Whoever spoke such loving and merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? No one warned more about hell than Him, describing it as a place "where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:47-48). No one has written more eloquently about love than the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13), yet he warns that the wicked "shall be punished with everlasting destruction" (2 Thessalonians 1:9). The same words that describe the eternality of heaven likewise describe the eternality of hell. 

Sin and death entered the world by the devil's daring falsehood, "You surely shall not die" (Genesis 3:4). Thousands of years later, the great enemy of our souls is still using his old weapon, trying to persuade men and women that they may live and die in sin, yet at some distant period be finally saved. Let us not be taken advantage of by being "ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). There is nothing Satan desires more than we should believe he does not exist and that there is no such thing as eternal torment.

Think: what was the use of God's Son becoming incarnate, living a perfect life, agonizing in Gethsemane, and dying on the cross to make a substitutionary atonement for sin for all who trust in Him if people can be finally saved without believing in Him? Where is the slightest proof that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever begin after death? We are told, "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Where is the need for the Holy Spirit if sinners are at last to enter heaven without conversion and renewal of heart? Hear what Solomon the wise says to curb youthful lusts: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment" (Ecclesiastes 11:9). Unrepented sin is an eternal evil and can never cease to be sin. He "to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13) is an eternal God. 

The words of Psalm 145 are strikingly beautiful: "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You.... 

"The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works ...  near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy" (Psalm 145:8-20).

3. Our state in the unseen world of eternity depends entirely upon what we are in time. The life we live on earth is short and soon gone: "We finish our years like a sigh.... What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (Psalm 90:9; James 4:14). The life before us when we leave this world is an endless eternity, a sea without a bottom and an ocean without a shore. "Do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). But as short as our life is here and endless as it will be hereafter, it is of utmost importance that eternity hinges upon time. Our lot after death depends, humanly speaking, on what we are while we are alive. It is written that God "will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath" (Romans 2:6-8).

We ought never to forget that we are all, while we live, in a state of probation. We are constantly sowing seeds that will spring up and bear fruit, every day and hour in our lives. Eternal consequences result from our thoughts, words, and deeds, of which we take far too little account. Jesus said, "For every idle word men speak, they will  give account of it in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36). No wonder Paul was inspired to write, "He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Galatians 6:8). So what we sow in life we shall reap after death and to all eternity.

The Bible teaches clearly that as we die, whether converted to Christ or unconverted, whether believers or unbelievers, whether godly or ungodly, so shall we rise again when the last trumpet sounds. There is no repentance in the grave. There is no purgatory. Now is the time to believe in Christ and lay hold of eternal life. As Jesus said, "The night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4). "In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie" (Ecclesiastes 11:3). If we leave this world impenitent and unbelieving, we shall rise the same in the resurrection morning and find, as Jesus said of Judas, that it would have been better not to have been born.

Remember this and make good use of time. Regard it as the stuff of which life is made and never waste it or throw it away. The means of grace, including prayer, Bible reading, and faithfully attending public worship, are given to help you toward an eternal world. Not one of them should be thoughtlessly treated or lightly and irreverently handled. Use them all as one who remembers eternity.

Place in the face of temptation the thought of eternity, setting aside thoughts such as, "It is only a little one," "Never mind. What is the harm? Everyone is doing it." The soon-to-be- martyred English Reformer John Hooper was tempted to recant his faith in Christ in exchange for safety with a concerned enemy telling him this: "Life is sweet and death is bitter." But Hooper  remembered eternity when giving his memorable reply: "True, quite true, but eternal life is more sweet and eternal death is more bitter."

4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Friend whom we all must look to for help, both in time and eternity. The reason the eternal Son of God came into the world is to give us hope and peace while we live among "the things that are seen," which are transient, and glory and blessedness when we go into "the things that are unseen," which are eternal. He came to bring "life and immortality to light through the Gospel" and to "release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (2 Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 2:15). He saw our lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. 

These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ purchased for us at the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute and bore our sins in His own body on the cross and then rose again for our justification. Christ "suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." He who knew no sin was temporarily made sin for us that we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and righteousness while we live, and glory and blessedness when we die (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus offers these blessings freely to everyone who will turn from his or her sins, come to Him, and believe. "I am the light of the world," He says. "The one who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37). "The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37). Whoever believes in Christ "shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). The only way to pass through "things seen" with comfort and look forward to "things unseen" without fear is to have Christ as our Savior and Friend. If you and I have no comfort amid the temporal and no hope for the eternal, the fault is all our own. It is because, as Jesus said, we will not come to Him that we may have life (John 5:40).

Are you wasting your time or turning it to good account? Are you preparing to meet God? It is not too late if you are reading this. Christ waits to be gracious: He invites you to come to Him. Before the door is shut and the judgment begins, repent, believe, and be saved. Cling to Christ and live a life of faith in Him. Follow Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, seeking to know Him better every day. So doing you will look forward to eternal things with unfailing confidence, and feel and "know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). 

The Great Separation: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

THE GREAT SEPARATION

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12

1. The two great classes into which mankind may be divided. The passage of Scripture above was spoken by John the Baptizer. It is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ that has not yet been fulfilled. Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it contains only two. Man's eye looks at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. Tried by the state of their hearts, the two classes are illustrated here by wheat and chaff.

A. The wheat. The wheat are all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been led by the Holy Spirit of God to feel themselves sinners and flee for refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel for all. They therefore love the Lord Jesus, serving and obeying Him, taking the Bible for their only guide, regarding sin as their deadliest enemy, and looking to heaven as their only home. All such individuals of every church, name, nation, people, language, rank, station, condition, and degree constitute God's wheat.

They are the sons and daughters of God the Father. They are the delight of God the Son. God the Holy Spirit regards them as spiritual temples He Himself has erected.

B. The chaff. The chaff are all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ and no sanctification of the Spirit. Some are irreligious and some are very religious. Some are sneering Sadducees and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point of keeping up religious practices and some are careless of everything except their own pleasures. What they have in common is no faith and no sanctification or holiness in God's sight.

They bring no glory to God the Father, for "he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23). They neglect that mighty salvation countless angels admire. They disobey the Word of God, which was graciously written for their learning. They do not listen to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and purchase salvation through His righteous life, death, and resurrection. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gives them "life, breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). Therefore God takes no pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than chaff, which is useless vegetation.

This is humbling truth: You may have rare intellectual gifts and high attainments; you may sway many by your influence, but if you have never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ and honored His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are spiritually lacking in His sight. Natural gifts without grace are of no eternal value. You do not honor God with heart, will, intellect, and body, which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, living as if time is more important than eternity and body better than soul. You are cold about the subject that fills all heaven with hallelujahs. So long as that remains the case, you belong to the ultimately worthless part of mankind: you are the chaff of the earth.

See now what cause there is for self-inquiry! Are you among the wheat or the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one class or in the other. Which is it of the two? Do not rest until you know how it is between you and God. Better a thousand times to find you are in a dreadful spiritual state and then repent than to live on in uncertainty and be lost eternally.

2. The time when the wheat and the chaff  shall be separated. There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the world and even in the visible church of Christ. But it shall no always be so. Christ shall come the second time with His winnowing fan in His hand to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A. Before Christ returns, separation is impossible. It is not in man's power to effect it. There is no minister on earth who can read the hearts of everyone in his congregation. The winnowing fan is not put in their hands. Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble that it looks like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well dressed that it looks like grace. Judas looked as good as any of the apostles, yet he was proved to be a traitor only at the end. Peter looked like chaff when he denied the Lord Jesus, yet he repented immediately and rose again. We are all fallible, for we "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9) and scarcely understand our own hearts. It is no great wonder we cannot read the hearts of others. 

But it will not always be so. One is coming who never errs in judgment and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor, sifting the lightweight chaff from the dense wheat. Until then, we are to lean on the side of charity in our judgments. As Jesus taught in His Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, it is better to tolerate some chaff in the church than cast out one grain of wheat. The certainty about every one shall be known soon enough.

B. Before Christ returns, it is useless to expect to see a perfect church. There cannot be such a thing now. I pity those who leave one church and join another because of a few minor faults and unsound members. They are seeking that which cannot be found on this earth. Only when Christ returns will there be a "glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). Then, and not until then, the floor will be purged.

C. Before Christ returns, it is futile to look for the conversion of the world. How can it be since He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in the day of His second coming? I see nothing in the Bible or in the world around me to make me expect it. What we can expect to see is a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation and place. Then I expect the Lord will return with His fan in His hand. When He has purged His floor, and not until then, His Kingdom will be realized in full.

3. The Lord's provision for His people.

A. The Lord takes pleasure in His people. It is comforting to know that "the Lord takes pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149:4) and "cares for [them]" (1 Peter 5:7). But how much He cares for them I fear is little known and dimly seen. Believers have their many trials, the flesh is weak, the world is full of snares, the cross is heavy, the way is narrow, and the companions are few. But still they have strong consolations if their eyes are widely opened. Like Hagar, they have a well of water near them in the wilderness (Genesis 21:19) and like Mary Magdalene, they have Jesus standing by their side, though their eyes are blinded by tears (John 20:14). They need to be reminded they are sons and daughters of God by adoption and enjoy full and perfect forgiveness. They have a place in the Book of Life and a name on the breastplate of the Great High Priest in heaven.

He took them for His own with a perfect understanding of their liabilities and infirmities. He will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their prayers are pleasing to Him. As a father loves the first stammering efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty intercession and gives them power on high. Their services are pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy his child picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. 

B. The Lord cares for His people in life. Their addresses are intimately known by Him. The street called Straight where Saul/Paul temporarily lodged and the seaside place where Peter prayed were familiar to their Lord (Acts 9-10). No one has better assistants than His people. Angels rejoice when they are born again, angels minister to them, and angels encompass them for protection. No one has better food. Their daily bread is provided and they are nourished by the water of life. They have food to eat of which the world knows nothing. No one has better company than they do. The Spirit indwells them and the Father and the Son make Their home with them (John 14:23). Their steps are all ordered from grace to glory. Their difficulties are all measured out by a wise Physician: not a grain of bitterness is ever mixed in their cup that is not good for the health of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's control. Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's permission or tempt them beyond what they are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). When they are transplanted from place to place, it is so they may bloom more brightly. All things are continually working together for their good (Romans 8:28).

C. The Lord cares for His people in death. Their times are all in His hand. The hairs of their heads are all numbered and no one can ever fall to the ground without their Father (Matthew 10:29-31). They are kept on earth until they are ripe and ready for glory, and not one moment longer. When they have had sun, rain, wind, and storm enough, when the grain is perfect in the stalk, only then will they be harvested. It is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat. Death opens the door to believer and instantly lets him or her into paradise.

D. The Lord will protect His people on the awesome and dreadful day of His return. The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God shall proclaim no terrors to their ears. They shall lift up their heads with joy as they see their full redemption approach. They shall be instantly changed, putting on their beautiful garments in the blink of an eye, caught up together "to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus will do nothing to a sin-laden world until all His people are safe, just like there was an ark for Noah when the Flood began. There will be a barn for all the wheat on Judgment Day. Whether then or now, Christ's people persevere throughout life. "My sheep," says the Good Shepherd, "shall never perish" (John 10:28). They shall all be gathered into the same fold and barn. 

4. The Lord's punishment of those who are not His people. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to purge His floor of the chaff, all who are found impenitent and unbelieving—who "suppress the truth unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18), clinging to sin and the world instead of Christ and His Word, will come to an awful end. Christ will "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." There is no pain like burning. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live in air, earth, and water, but nothing can live in fire. This punishment will be eternal. The fuel of that fire will never waste away or be consumed. These are sad and painful things to speak of, yet they are written for our learning and it is good to consider them. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

A. Hell is real. Some believe there is no hell at all, thinking such a place is inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil delights in the views of such people, for they are preaching his favorite doctrine: "You surely shall not die" (Genesis 3:4). Jesus at His return, however, will say to those who wickedly forget God and His people, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.... These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:41-46). The same blessed Savior who now sits on a throne of grace will one day sit on a throne of judgment. Terrified people will discover there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:16). The same lips that now say, "Come to Me" will then say, "Depart from Me."

B. Hell is eternal. These are all biblical descriptions of hell: eternal fire, eternal punishment, their worm does not die, torment of thirst, weeping and gnashing of teeth, darkness, blackness, and the second death. All are figures of speech, but they describe something real and even worse than what mere words can describe. The present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future will never be thoroughly known except by those who go there. "Trembling has seized the godless: 'Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?'" (Isaiah 33:14). "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.... He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:16-36).

C. Hell should be spoken about. It is striking to observe the many texts about it in Scripture. No one says more about hell than our gracious and merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. John, the most loving apostle, wrote often about hell. The most loving thing we can do for others is to speak the truth in love about supremely important matters. What would you say of the man who saw his neighbor's house in danger of being burned down but never said a word of warning? Beware of manufacturing a god of your own who is all mercy, but not just; all love, but not holy; a god who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a god who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a god is an idol. The hands of your own sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.

5. The Lord's merciful provision for people now. Realize you are reading this by God's design. The truth about hell is for you to know and take to heart. Never mind now what it means for others. You will be either gathered with the wheat when Jesus returns or burned with the chaff. If you are willing to be of the wheat, the Lord Jesus Christ is willing to receive you. Do you suppose He is not willing to see His barn filled? Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons and daughters to glory? If so, you know little of the depth of His mercy and compassion. He wept over unrepentant Jerusalem. He mourns over the impenitent and careless in the present day. He sends you an invitation right now to hear and live, to forsake the way of the foolish and go in the path of understanding. "I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32).

If you are determined to have the world and the things of the world, all its pleasures and rewards, all its follies and sins; if you must have your own way and cannot give up anything for Christ and the sake of your soul, there is but one end before you. Sooner or later you will come to the unquenchable fire. But if you want to be rescued from that fate, the Lord Jesus stands ready to save you. "Come to Me," He says, "and I will give you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon. Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life" (Matthew 11:28). Arise and call upon the Lord. Let the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul.

Settle it down in your mind that if you have committed your soul to Christ, He will never let you perish. The everlasting arms are around you. Lean back in them and know your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you. The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is maintaining your cause. Take comfort and know your privileges. Cast every care on Jesus. Tell Him about every need. He loves serving as your High Priest. He loves to be trusted and seeing His people ceasing from the vain effort of carrying their fears, anxieties, and doubts for themselves. Be among Christ's wheat now and then, on the great day of separation, you will be gathered into Christ's barn.

Our Home: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

OUR HOME

"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations." Psalm 90:1

That is a verse to make one lean back and think. It is from the only Psalm ascribed to "Moses, the man of God." 

1. What this world truly is. It is a beautiful world in many respects, but many things in it remind us that it is not home.

A. It is a changing world. All around us is continually moving, altering, and passing away. Families, properties, landlords, tenants, workers, and students are regularly on the move. To find the same name in the same dwelling for three generations is so uncommon, it is the exception, not at all the rule. A world so full of change cannot be called home.

B. It is a trying and disappointing world. Trials in married and single life, trials with children and brothers and sisters, trials in money and health matters—how many they are! Yet not the tenth part of them perhaps ever comes to light, for all families have their secrets. A world so full of trials and disappointments cannot be called home.

C. It is a dying world. Death is continually about us or near us. Few are the family gatherings when there are not empty chairs and vacant places. Where are the boys and girls we played with when we went to school? Surely a world so full of death can never be called a home.

D. It is a scattered and divided world. Families are continually breaking up and going in different directions. How rarely do  members of a family ever meet together again after the surviving parent is laid in the grave. The cement seems withdrawn from the parts of the building and the whole principle of cohesion is lost. How often some miserable squabble about trinkets or money makes a breach that is never healed. A world so full of division can never be home. 

These are all ancient things, the bitter fruits of sin that entered the world when Adam and Eve transgressed. We must not fret or complain, however, but must steadily resolve to make the best of everyone and everything around us. Learn to moderate your expectations and not regard this world as your lasting home. This state of things will not last forever. The Word of God tells us that "the time is short: it remains that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passes away" (1 Corinthians 7:29-31). 

2. What Christ truly is, even in this life, to true Christians. Heaven is the final home in which a true Christian will dwell at last. Towards that end he is daily traveling; nearer to that she is daily coming. We know that if the earthly house of our body, "this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). Body and soul united once more, renewed, beautified, and perfected, will live forever in the Father's great house in heaven. To that home we have not yet come; we are not yet in heaven.

But is there in the meantime no home for our souls? Thank God, there is no difficulty in finding an answer to that question. There is a home now provided for all laboring and heaven-laden souls: that home is Christ Himself. To know Christ by faith, to live the life of faith in Him, abiding in Him daily by faith, fleeing to Him in every storm of conscience, our refuge in every day of trouble, employing Him as our Confessor, Absolver, and spiritual Director every morning and evening is to be at home spiritually even before we die. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23). The risen Christ declared, "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). In the midst of a dying, changing, disappointing world, a true Christian has a home in Christ no power on earth can take away. Like those humblest of God's creatures that carry their shells on their backs, wherever they are, so the Christian, wherever he goes, carries his home.

A. No home like Christ: In Him there is room for all sorts. No matter how prodigal, those who repent and turn to Him will find the best robe, the fatted calf, the ring, and the shoes always ready for all comers (Luke 15:11-32). All may be pardoned. There is a home and refuge where your soul may be admitted this very day. That home is Christ. "Come to Me," He cries. "Knock and the door shall be opened to you" (Matthew 11:28; 7:7).

B. No home like Christ: In Him there is boundless and unwearied mercy for all, even after admission. None are rejected and cast out. This is no probationary home. Whom Christ receives, He keeps. What good work He begins in a life He completes (Philippians 1:6). Whom He  justifies before God through His saving work on the cross, He progressively sanctifies in this life and instantly glorifies in the next. No hopeless characters are ever sent away from His house. No men are women are ever found too bad to heal and renew. Nothing is too hard for Him to do who made the world out of nothing. He who is Himself the Home has declared, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 6:37).

C. No home like Christ: In Him there is unvarying kindness, patience, and gentle dealing for all. He is not  austere, but is "gentle and lowly of heart" (Matthew 11:29). None who apply to Him are ever treated roughly or made to feel that their company is not welcome. The Holy Spirit is placed inside them and dwells in them as in a temple. Leading, guiding, and instruction are daily provided for them. If they err, they are brought back into the right way; if they fall, they are raised again; if they sin willingly, they are chastised to make them better. But the rule of the whole house is love.

D. No home like Christ: In Him there is no change. From the youngest to the oldest, He loves all who come to Him and never tires of doing them good. Earthly homes, by comparison, are full of fickleness and uncertainty. Favor is deceitful. Courtesy and civility may be on your hosts' lips, but inwardly they may be weary of your company and wish you were gone. You seldom know how long your presence is welcome or to what extent your friends really care to see you. But it is not at all like that with Christ. He "is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

E. No home like Christ: Friendship once begun with Him shall never be broken off. Once joined to the Lord by faith, you are joined to Him for an endless eternity. Earthly homes always come to an end sooner or later; the dear old furniture is sold and dispersed. It is not like that with Christ. Faith will at length be swallowed up in sight; hope shall be changed into certainty. We shall one day see with our eyes and no longer need to believe. Those whose names are inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life belong to a home that shall continue forever.

REVELATION+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

Revelation 1:1 "The revelation of Jesus Christ."  This phrase refers not only to the opening section, but also to the entire Book of Revelation. Although the wonder of this Book is demonstrated by the variety of interpretations it has inspired, we will be greatly helped and guided by realizing that Revelation principally reveals who Jesus Christ is in His glory. We first see Him deal with His own Church with merciful sternness and grace, and then the rest of the world with its massed and mighty forces in opposition to His government. They are no match for His wisdom and might, by which He inexorably and climactically establishes His eternal Kingdom in a recreated new heaven and earth never to be shaken or disturbed again. The literary genre of Revelation is apocalyptic, which means that its clear, often repeated theme is presented with vivid images and symbols to help that theme remain in one's mind and heart long after the words are read or heard. That theme in two words is Jesus Wins.

Revelation 2:5 "Repent, and do the  works you did at first."  In this chapter and the next, the glorious Christ passes before us in the wisdom, grace, strength, and majesty of His relationship to His Church, as it is composed of different historical churches then and now. To each one He says, "I know," and on the basis of His knowledge He commends or corrects. To each one He speaks of the distinct possibility of overcoming, promising fitting rewards to all who do so. The highlighted verse reveals His call to the first in a list of seven churches, the church at Ephesus. There was much in that church that gained His commendation, but it had one serious failing: it had lost its first love. People there had lost the freshness and enthusiasm of their early devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. They were still loyal and true, but their loyalty lacked passion, and the truth was devoid of flame. That is always a grave condition because it so easily passes on into other phases. How is it to be remedied? By a return to the very starting point: repentance and faith issuing in deeds done out of love for Christ.

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock."   These famous words Jesus spoke to the notorious church at Laodicea, the one church out of the seven with no commendation whatsoever from our honest Lord. It is possible for a Christian church to exist in outward form, yet to have excluded the Lord from its very life. Moreover, such a church may be perfectly satisfied with itself, saying, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing" (verse 17). It is probable that other churches consider it to be influential. Can anything be more ghastly? A church organized and busy, but Christless! The tepid condition of such a church is so nauseating to Christ Himself that He says, "I will spit you out of My mouth!" (verse 16). Even in the case of such a loathsome church, however, He is still patient and compassionate, saying, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with Him and he with Me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear with the Spirit says to the churches" (verses 19-22). Such a church may or may not be hopeless, but awakened and alert individuals within it are invited to reach out to our gracious Lord directly to live in close and faithful fellowship with Him.

Revelation 4:2 "A throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne."  This Book now passes onto matters of the earth: its kingdoms, forces, and behavior. Jesus Christ is to be unveiled in the processes by which He will battle against the destructive forces of evil and decisively establish the Kingdom of God on a renewed earth. This chapter and the next describe the established order of heaven, with those following describing the executive activity proceeding from heaven's throne. In this chapter the central revelation is the throne and the One who occupies it. That throne has been there forever, "set on high from the beginning," as poetically stated by the prophet Jeremiah. It is the same one Isaiah saw in the year that King Uzziah died over 2,700 years ago. Whatever the attitudes men and women have had toward that exalted throne—forgetfulness, indifference, rebellion, or submission—they have never escaped from its power and authority. The imagery of this chapter describing the worshipers surrounding the throne helps us apprehend the glory and majesty of that center of authority in the universe. The reverent reticence of description of the One sitting on the throne inspires awe. No form is described, but only the effect produced by looking: the translucent light and beauty produced by gem stones called jasper and carnelian. We are not certain what those stones are, but the impression is everything: light, glory, and beauty living and enthroned.

Revelation 5:9 "Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals."   The One on the throne holds a scroll sealed with seven seals. As events prove, that scroll is the divine program for making a final end of evil and forever establishing the Kingdom of God. But more than a program is needed. There must be One who is qualified to carry it out. When a mighty angel proclaims with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" we are told, "No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it" (verses 2-3). We know elsewhere from Scripture of angelic ranks in heaven, but they cannot deal with the complex condition of good and evil in the final conflict. There are those on earth capable of governing, but they are themselves enmeshed in evil and cannot cope with it. Those under the earth, described as "cosmic rulers over this present darkness," are in rebellion against the One on heaven's throne. So who is worthy to open the scroll? "Behold," comes the answer: "The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that He can open the scrolls and its seven seals" (verse 5). As this Lion steps forward and takes the scroll from the One on the throne, we see that He looks like a Lamb who had once been slain, for this is He of whom it was said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The Lord Jesus Christ is in His nature of  heaven and earth; by conquest He is over the underworld. He takes the scroll to carry out the divine program over all realms so He may accomplish  the purpose of the One on the throne.

Revelation 6:1 "The Lamb opened one of the seven seals."   The number seven is repeated often in the Book of Revelation. Here it is associated with God's final judgment on earth, first in seven seals, then in seven trumpets, and last in seven bowls. That all is described in stunning detail from chapters 6-19, culminating in the triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation 20-22 we read about His reign for "a thousand years," the defeat of Satan, judgment before the throne, and the final, perfected Kingdom in the new heaven and earth. In this chapter we see the Lamb opening six of the seals in the scroll of doom. The first four are forces commanded to come forth and express themselves: a conquering king, a lord of war, a prince over commerce, and then Death and Hades personified. Under all these, people suffer and die in fellowship with the suffering and death of the Lamb who opens the seals. The fifth seal reveals these faithful martyrs calling on the Lord to avenge them against those wicked forces, but they are comforted and commanded to wait until the process of judgment is completed. The opening of the sixth seal jolts the heavens and earth into violent and unprecedented convulsions that signal to all, great and small, the approach of the end. They now are palpably and terrifyingly aware of the wrath of the Lamb and the One on the throne.

Revelation 7:3 "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."  These words, uttered by one angel to four others, indicate a halt in the processes unleashed under the opening of the seals. Six have been opened; the seventh and last is about to be opened, but there is a delay during which an elect remnant of 144,000 is sealed, apparently a symbolic representation of the entire people of God. That is reinforced by the next vision: "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (verses 9-10). This multitude sings Their praises not only because they shall no longer suffer and "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (verse 17), but also because they are in Their midst, watching the unfolding of just judgment on the earth. This in chapter 7 is the first of a series of interludes during these judgments. Those interludes are important because they demonstrate that God is not bound by times, dates, and seasons. As six seals have been opened, there has been a steady development toward a climax of judgment. That climax is at hand, but it is halted so God's mercy may also have full opportunity to accomplish its purpose. The storm is ready to break, but that is under the control of angels who are servants of the throne. Until the Lord has completed His work of securing the remaining loyal souls from the oncoming disaster, those angels must hold the winds in check.

Revelation 8:1 "When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."   After the interlude of God's intervening mercy, the seventh seal is about to be opened. So far, each seal has been exponentially more devastating than the one coming before. As we see in this verse, its effect is devastating beyond words. That is because of the seven trumpets this seventh seal sets into motion. The silence now is deafening. There is no voice from the throne, no song of angel or of saint. Everything is hushed. Eternity breathes the sense of time here, for the silence in its duration is measured by half an hour of earth time. Surely no statement could be more arresting as a revelation of the dread and august solemnity of the things to follow. But before looking at the horrific events about to unfold on earth with the blowing of the trumpets, our attention is again drawn to heaven's throne, before which is an altar with fire. Incense is added to "the prayers of all the saints" and laid in a golden censer upon the altar. The prayers of all believers throughout time have been preserved. They are about to receive their final answer in the coming of the Kingdom. Then those prayers, mingled with fire, are cast upon the earth. That Kingdom comes by fire and woes that destroy the base and purify the noble.

Revelation 9:21 "Nor did they repent of their murders ... sorceries ... sexual immorality or their thefts."  This statement is an appalling revelation of the fearful nature of evil, and a vindication of those awful—in the sense of awesome—methods by which God deals with it to deliver men and women from its power. The trumpet judgments have wreaked havoc and widespread death on the earth through physical and spiritual means involving hail, fire, blood, falling stars, poison, spoiled waters and oceans, paralyzing cold, darkness, and stinging and sulphureous apparitions prepared for this time of judgment from the pit of hell. Nevertheless, the people who have so far escaped death refuse to repent of their sins and humble themselves before God Almighty. As hard as that is to imagine in the context of all this horror and majesty, have we not seen this stubborn tendency before in history? Think of those who shake with fear in the face of death, but then escape it and then persist in evil, sometimes with an abandon and intensity that defies all sense. The severe judgments we read of here will be necessary to stamp out evil, but they will not save individual men and women. The person who will not yield him or herself to the grace and mercy of God will be destroyed, not saved, by the wrath of God. It is a solemn and searching truth, the meaning of which we do well to ponder.

Revelation 10:5-6 "The angel ... raised his right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever ... that there would be no more delay." This angel also declares that the mystery of God will be fulfilled, "just as He announced to His servants the prophets" (verse 7). Promises from near the beginning of time are being fulfilled in these fearsome judgments. The method of God with humanity throughout the ages has often been of mystery and apparent delay. Now both will cease. This is good news that will issue in complete victory for all His purposes, but for now more suffering is ahead. The apostle John, who has been faithfully recording all this revelation, is asked to demonstrate this bittersweet reality by eating a little scroll. He is told, "Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." John tells us that is exactly what it is like. Then he is told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings" (verse 11). To a man called to such ministry, there is joy and bitterness. It is always that way with those who deliver messages of divine judgment from the Lord's own Word. All His delays are the result of His patience. When the hour of no delay finally strikes, God will proceed with His judgments, but not with delight. When Jesus pronounced doom on Jerusalem, He lamented, saying, "See, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" That blessed event is coming soon at the end of the judgments recorded here.

Revelation 11:15 "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever."  This chapter begins with a symbolic summary of what is coming in future chapters. It is a recurring theme throughout the Book Revelation: the beastly oppression of God's people, but their ultimate triumph under God's almighty hand. The seventh trumpet sounds and voices are heard proclaiming what is highlighted above. Much remains to be done; the last stages of divine judgment will be more terrible than those before. Those in heaven know, however, the superlative end toward which they lead and spontaneously break out in praise and worship. The time has finally come when all false authority over the world will be abolished, and God and His Anointed One firmly establish Their just and loving rule over it. Amid the broad conflict between Jerusalem and Babylon, faith and rebellion, good and evil, heaven's population sings. They know the throne that is set, the One who sits upon it, and the Lamb who opens the seals. For them there is no doubt about how all this will end: the world must become actually and experientially the Kingdom of God. Knowing this, they rejoice in tribulation also, saying, "We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for You have taken Your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding Your servants, the prophets and saints, those who fear Your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth" (verses 17-18). The throne room of heaven is suddenly thrown open.

Revelation 12:7 "War arose in heaven."   In the next three chapters, Revelation 12-14, the opening of heaven's throne room presents us with a series of visions that serve as an interlude, or behind-the-scenes insight, before we witness the final seven bowls of judgment poured out: a woman, Child, and dragon; Satan and his fellow demons thrown out of heaven; the woman persecuted; two beasts; the Lamb with the redeemed; proclamations by three angels; and the harvest of the earth. We do not yet know what all the details in those visions mean, but some things are clear by the context and by other Scriptures. The woman represents God's people; the Child is the Lord Jesus. Satan, knowing "that his time is short" (verse 12), is the enraged dragon who empowers two beastly persons called the Antichrist and the False Prophet. They want to harvest the earth for their own wicked purposes, but it is God who will harvest the earth and trod  them down, and their followers, like grapes in a winepress. The idea of war in heaven is a mystery to us since our only conception of war is material. It is enough for us to know it is an actual conflict between principalities and powers, fallen and unfallen. The result is that all the fallen ones are cast out of the heavenly places to which they long had limited access, and now they exercise all their dreadful power on earth. As terrible as this centralization of evil powers proves to be, they are actually defeated foes who operate on the short timetable set by heaven's throne. Everything proceeds under the government of the Lamb.

Revelation 13:3 "The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast."   This beastly person is the Antichrist, who is indeed against Christ, but he is a deceiver and a counterfeit Christ. He appears with all the signs and symbols of authority. What is more, he is demonically empowered by supernatural signs, such as having a death wound that is healed. He is characterized by great personal attractiveness, for the whole earth is amazed by him and follows after him. Soon he is accompanied by another beastly individual who makes people worship the Antichrist by employing signs of fire and occult wonders. This false religious figure establishes a system of commerce that binds all who would buy or sell to essentially sell their souls by being marked in league with these two beasts. The first beast is repeatedly described as a blasphemer. Perhaps at first he attempts to seduce men and women by false representations of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but once he establishes worldwide control, he openly utters "blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name, His dwelling, and those who dwell in heaven." Also he is "allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them" (verses 6-7). Then comes a word of encouragement: "Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints" (verse 11). Many tyrants, many despots, this world has seen but the last will surpass them all in subtlety and ungodliness. It is for us to keep in mind the vision granted to us at the beginning of the throne, the One on it, and the Lamb opening the seals. As we do, we will realize that God and Christ are compelling evil personified to express itself  to bring about its final overthrow.

Revelation 14:1 "I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb."  Again our attention is mercifully diverted for a time from the misery on earth to the blessings of the redeemed in heaven with their Savior. It is a joyful scene, but the work at hand continues. Under His rule a threefold angelic testimony is sent to the earth. The first is described as an eternal Gospel proclaimed to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, language, and people: "Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water" (verses 6-7). The second declares that Babylon the great is fallen, a reference to the pending doom of the mystery of evil. The third warns people against aligning themselves with the beast, declaring that all who do will drink of the wine of God's wrath when the earth is soon harvested. Since death will now be the fate of many who remain true to God, the Spirit of God utters these words of encouragement: "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" (verses 12-13). The last vision before the final bowls of judgment are poured out is of the Lord Jesus Christ, described by the prophetic term Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. The harvest is ready. At the end of this chapter we are given a preview of how it will go.

Revelation 15:1 "I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished."  This chapter describes the scene in heaven before specific details are given about the orderly harvesting of the earth, which is being tormented by the Antichrist and his False Prophet. Among the mighty company are newly arrived martyrs "who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name," singing what is described as the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Great and amazing are Your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed" (verses 3-4). After this song of triumph, the seven angels are handed "seven golden bowl full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever" (verse 7). Notice, however, in the first verse above that "with them the wrath of God is finished." In contrast, God's love is never finished. His wrath moves inexorably forward to accomplish what is necessary to the full activity of His love. When that is done, His wrath is finished.

Revelation 16:19 "God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath."  Babylon is a symbol for the enemies of God and His people. Upon them the seven bowls of judgment are now poured out: painful sores, the sea becoming like blood, as do rivers and streams, the sun scorching people, darkness that brings anguish, the river Euphrates dried up to pave the way for the Battle of Armageddon, and the world's worst earthquake and hailstorm. It is proclaimed on earth, "Just are You, O Holy One, who is and who was, for You brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!" (verses 5-6). Heaven echoes back, "Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are Your judgments!" (verse 7). The Lord Jesus Himself declares, "Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on" (verse 15). As men and women have made material things supreme, the thrust of these judgments is in the realm of the physical. The depth of their depravity is revealed in that they still blaspheme and refuse to repent. In long ages of conflict, Babylon has seemed to be in the ascendant, acting as if there is no God and trampling on those who love Him. Now she is at last drinking the wine of God's wrath, which is the vintage of her own wickedness.

Revelation 17:5-6 "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations ... drunk with the blood of the saints ... the martyrs of Jesus."  This chapter and the next form an interlude that explains vivid images and pronouncements about  mystery Babylon. This evil is personified as a wealthy prostitute closely associated with the beast or Antichrist described in Revelation 13. She is a symbol of spiritual adultery and religious apostasy that at first the Antichrist and his subordinate rulers will use to further their evil agenda, but then will dispose of because "God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose" (verse 17). Mystery suggests the subtlety and spiritual nature of this evil. Babylon stands for the whole system of organized godlessness in the history of the human race. It first emerged into concentrated activity at the Tower of Babel, where earth's inhabitants organized to defeat the purposes of God until He confounded them (Genesis 11). It is a spirit of evil described as "the mystery of lawlessness" (2 Thessalonians 2:7), which is appropriate since at its root, "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). It has been at work in every age in countless manifestations, but consistently arrayed in material splendor, "in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls" (verse 4). That is how it deceives the hearts of men and women. This evil is described here as the mother of earth's abominations. All things of vileness, corruption, cruelty, and tyranny are her spawn. The apostle John saw her drunk with the blood of God's people. That is the evil thing against which God, through the Lamb, proceeds in wrath.

Revelation 18:2 "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great."   What does the fall of Babylon signify? Misery for the materialistically minded citizens of earth, but joy and vindication for the citizens of heaven. A voice from heaven declares, "Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds.... As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.... Her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her" (verses 6-8). We are told that "the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood ... wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle ... and slaves, that is, human souls" (verses 11-13). Heaven rightly responds with scorn: "The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!... Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!" (verses 14, 20). Here is the conclusion: Babylon the great city will "be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more. The sound of ... musicians ... will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more ... for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on earth" (verses 21-24). Who will accomplish all this? The previous chapter tells us: "The Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful" (Revelation 17:14). The next chapter tells of this glorious conquest in detail.

Revelation 19:1-2 "After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just.'"   We open with the church's joyful praise in heaven for God's just and final judgment on "the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality" (verse 2). Now we see a very different woman depicted: "'Hallelujah! For the Lord God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure'—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.... Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" (verses 6-9). That fulfills this longed-for promise from Isaiah 25: "The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food ... the best of meats and the finest of wines.... He will swallow up death forever.... He will remove His people's disgrace from all the earth.... In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us.... Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation!'" Then in this chapter and the next we are told, in what appears to be flashback format, how the Lord  dealt with His remaining enemies: the Antichrist, the false prophet, Satan, and those they deceived; they are all ultimately cast into a lake of fire. The climax here is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We suddenly see Him  on a white horse coming out of heaven. He is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. He is also called the Word of God, and slays His enemies by the very words of His mouth. He is pictured "clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron." Who is this mighty Savior? He is the "King of kings and Lord of lords." Fervent prayers through the centuries of "Your Kingdom come" are finally answered.

Revelation 20:4 "They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."  This chapter describes the binding of Satan, the resurrection of redeemed souls, their rule with Christ for a thousand years, the release of Satan, his deception of multitudes to wage a futile war on Christ and His people, their swift defeat from heaven, and the resurrection of the unjust, who are judged with finality at the great white throne. Some believe those events take place in chronological order;  others believe they are more like images in a movie trailer that convey a  compelling message, but are not displayed in sequence, and that describe the events between the first and second comings of Christ in different and memorable ways. We cannot understand the true order of events until we have seen the whole picture. One thing we do understand is that the clear and often-repeated theme throughout the Book of Revelation, with all its symbols and numbers, is the ultimate triumph of God and His people over every evil. Perhaps what we read here echoes what is written plainly in 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter: "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule, authority, and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

"Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:14

Revelation 21:2 "I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."  Here we read of the new heaven and the new earth, recreated  forever free of sin and evil. Every last promise of Holy Scripture is now fulfilled, including this: "Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-21). Another name for the children or people of God is the Bride of Christ, whom we last saw at the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19. In this chapter we are back at the wedding feast, which is taking place in a gorgeous holy city called the new Jerusalem. It is as if the judgments of the last few chapters were topics of conversation during this time of heavenly fellowship, but now the Bridegroom speaks: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man! He will dwell with them, and they will be His people.... He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more, neither shall there be ... crying or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Behold, I am making all things new!" (verses 3-5). Then like a good husband who understands his wife, the Lord transitions His remarks from the church in heaven to the church presently on earth. He knows we cannot go too high or too deep in our earthly state. "It is done!" He says to encourage us. "To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage.... I will be his God and he will be My son" (verses 6-7). This chapter ends with a beautiful glimpse of the new Jerusalem: It will have gates and walls associated with the apostles, precious gems, and pearls.  The city itself will have "no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light.... By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it" (verses 23-24). The new creation will be enriched with "the sanctified fruits of human culture" through the millennia. No good thing will be lost, and so much more will be gained in this everlasting life.

Revelation 22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" In this last chapter of the Bible we receive one more brief glimpse of our future heavenly home, where flows "the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city" (verses 1-2). Also there is the tree of life, which was present in the Garden of Eden, and is now available to us again in a new and better way. The last two chapters of the Bible are like an exponential version of its first two chapters; Revelation 21-22 serve as a bookend to Genesis 1-2, telling the true tale of creation, the fall, redemption, and re-creation. In our glorified bodies we will worship and serve our Lord, and we ourselves "will reign forever and ever" (verse 5). In addition we learn, "No longer will there be anything accursed ... and night will be no more" (verse 3). In these last two chapters we receive sobering reminders, starting with this: "As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the sexually immoral, murderers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire" (Revelation 21:8). Nothing impure will ever enter the holy city, "nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (21:27). A curse is pronounced on those who add or take away from the prophecies of this Book, for "these words are trustworthy and true" (Revelation 22:6, 18-19),  The Lord Jesus again makes a transition from heavenly to earthly matters as He draws this Book of Revelation to a close. "Behold, I am coming soon," Jesus affirms. "Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this Book" (verse 7). That affirmation is so important, He repeats it: "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done" (verse 12). "Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price" (verse 17). The last recorded words of Jesus are a third affirmation: "Surely I am coming soon." That solid assurance gives urgency to the answering cry of the apostle John: "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" That coming is the only hope of the world, and there is no desire so pure and so strong than that He should come indeed.

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